PUMR - A Formal Definition

PASCAL Universities for a Modern Renaissance (PUMR) is an on-going and developing programme among college and university members of PASCAL International Observatory.

Our membership in PASCAL affirms our commitment to using the best principles of social capital, place management, and lifelong learning to inspire strategic partnerships with policy makers (both public and private) in our own regions to improve the quality of life for all residents.  In short the best simple definition of PUMR is those:

Universities harnessing local, regional and global talents through deep collaborations to identify worthy problems, create innovative and cost effective solutions and co-produce with external partners from business, industry, civil and voluntary services and the community, successful systemic deliverables enabling real improvement for lasting impact

It focuses universities on:

• Embedding an improved culture and commitment of the institution to policies of engagement with its region based on the above principles
• Extending the range of the domains and categories of engagement and the quality and depth of this engagement by universities highly committed to their regions and their success and
• Demonstrating of the skills available for co-creating solutions with external regional partners after  initially co-identify of worthy issues in with them

Summarised below are the key factors that PASCAL has borne in mind when developing the PUMR concept. These key success factors have been developed by PASCAL through a series in-depth working discussions, both virtually and physically, at its regular meetings and with key interested universities and regions. The factors spell out the need, and perhaps even demand, for enterprise partnerships by those universities who want to work constructively and creatively with external partners in Knowledge Cities – from business, industry, the civil and voluntary services, the community and society at large – for mutual benefits and to create real impact. In short they demand deep and meaningful collaboration, which leads to innovative partnerships with business and the community:

• Forming meaningful, wealth creating, sustainable and socially inclusive partnerships between academic on the one hand and industry, business, the civil and voluntary services and the community on the other
• Enabling the co-identification of ‘real problems for solutions’, increasingly fit for purpose for the knowledge economy from as broad a range of stakeholders as is possible
• Searching for academic opportunities beyond means currently employed with business and community to the highest academic standards and for the mutual benefit of the university and its external partners
• Unlocking the talents of all citizens working together with their university partners in co-creation, co-design and co-production
• Developing beyond the traditional academic (critical, scholarly, research and science based) roles into ‘action enabling’ developments for the ‘greater good’ which deliver real world improvements
• Requiring sharing of different kinds of knowledge and ‘know-how’, in mutually useful ways, by forming relevant strategic alliances
• Making available professional and practice relevant education and problem based learning for future generations to ensure sustainability
• Universities will adapt not from just giving information to the students in terms of ‘tell and show’, but will have to interact with them and act in other more conversational ways. The whole demography of Life Long Learning will be different
• Developing ‘practical wisdom’ through creative and ‘virtuous knowledge sharing’ with local businesses, social groups and all citizens for mutual benefit
• Focusing key components of university activities on Higher Academic Enterprise – sometimes called Reach-out, outreach or ‘third stream’, not separated from normal academic activities, but an integral part of them
• Harnessing the imagination, reason and daring from all City Region talent, including the skills of the university itself, leading to improvements for all
• Helping all society to cost effectively meet the ‘triple bottom line’ with respect to environmental, economic and social concerns, while also enabling them to flourish, grow and be creative – the essence of the human condition

• Reaching out world-wide - to develop deeper conversations with relevant stakeholders to enable developments fit for purpose in the global knowledge economy
• Helping build confidence and capability in all citizens (in business, industry, the civil and voluntary services, and the community) and developing more appropriate work life balance for the modern world.

PASCAL believes that any PUMR university must not only be involved in knowledge production and creation of IP, but open themselves up to co-design and co-production to enable the Knowledge City or Region to cope with complexity, uncertainty and the challenges of all future problems.